ninja crayon
click.beep.whirr.slash

Think you have Photoshop skills? Bring it!

Layer Tennis - Live online creative competitions
Every Friday in March

http://www.layertennis.com/

12:00 P.M. PT
Watch amazing creative pros show off their Adobe Creative Suite® 4 skills, get play-by-play commentary, and help judge the winner by posting to the online forum.

Posted at 04:09AM Mar 17, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[0]

Stash Call for entries...

The Stash crew invites you to submit your most outstanding style frames and pitch materials for publication in the premier edition of STYLE FRAMES.

STYLE FRAMES is the inspirational new design annual from Stash Media showcasing spectacular presentation art and video.

STYLE FRAMES offers you the chance to rescue all those daring and brilliant visual treatments hiding in the studio drawer and showcase them in a beautifully printed, full-size design book.

Posted at 01:00PM Mar 15, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[3]

Final Cut Pro users get new tutorials at Artbeats

Artbeats' powerful search engine now offers visitors the capability of searching over 80 brands of royalty-free stock footage with one click.

Posted at 10:00AM Mar 15, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[1]

Webtalk with Watchmen creator Dave Gibbons

Watchmen creator Dave Gibbons will be hosting a free online webinar on tips to create comics and animation on March 21st at 2PM PT. Anyone can participate, from first time comic creators to professionals. Space is limited to the first 500 people that register and attendees will have a chance to win multiple prizes including Manga Studio EX 4, signed by Dave Gibbons, as well as autographed printouts of Gibbons' newest comic creation designed during the one-hour webinar.

To register visit: http://www.smithmicro.com/mangawebinar

Dave Gibbons Manga Studio
Webinar:

When:             2:00 PM PT on Sunday, March 21, 2010

Where:             http://www.smithmicro.com/mangawebinar
to register

Who:           Space in the webinar is
limited to the first 500 people that register.  Anyone can participate, from first time comic creators to
professionals

Other:               Attendees will have a chance to win multiple
prizes including Manga Studio™ EX 4, signed by Dave Gibbons, as well as
autographed printouts of Gibbons’ newest comic creation designed during the
one-hour webinar.

"Manga Studio is my
favorite digital art software for drawing comics because it has an amazing
range of natural feeling, fully customizable pens and brushes that are
expressive and accurate,” said Dave Gibbons.  “I particularly love the perspective ruler tool which, along
with the many other specialized tools, is a huge time-saver.  The ability to import and incorporate
both 2-D and 3-D image references is a comic book artist's dream come
true."

Posted at 09:03PM Mar 12, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[3]

STASH DVD: This month's dose of inspiration

Here comes a monster serving of tasty animation and VFX plus 20 minutes of Behind the Scenes extras and 36 minutes of Bonus music from (weewerk) records.




The gluttony begins with Aaron Duffy and 1stAveMachine building a "Parisian Love Story" from nothing but Google's search tools, then James Wignall kicks it up a gear or two with a vibrant shot of Southern Comfort, Marc Craste and Studio aka re-envision the origin of the Olympic games in dramatic black and white for the BBC, Brazil's Casablanca retread the ESSO brand in South America with epic asphalt VFX.

Zoic Studios blast their way through full CG death and destruction for EA's "Army of Two: The 40th Day", Logan fuses live action and pristine 3D for Sega's new alien invasion shooter "Vanquish", and Tronic and Marco Brambilla bury Dubai in chaos and mayhem for the "Spec Ops" trailer before we meet Sniffles the mouse and his animatronic stunt double in John Nolan's hilarious "Nolan's Cheddar."
 
Buck breaks the titles and broadcast design section wide open with four clips screened before all the films at Sundance 2010, Portland's Sean Pecknold and Grandchildren construct a whimsical journey through your brain for BBC, Fraggleboo and Chez Eddy pile on the slapstick for French kids channel Teletoon, Royale ride a wave of destruction and rebirth in the latest Fuel TV Signature spot, and Peppermelon catapult the 2009 Latin America MTV Awards deep, deep into the future.
 
Then it's time for a relaxing musical interlude. Or not: Motion Theory unleashes "Boom Boom Pow" for the Black Eyed Peas; Chain Gang and 1000 Styles go retro kung fu crazy for Raekwon's "House of Flying Daggers" track; and Tim Nackashi induces chronic chroma-overload in his one-shot wonder for OK Go's "WTF?" video.
 
Meanwhile, back in ad land, Shilo conjures a magical community for the U.S. Census Bureau, LAIKA/house flings out a sassy, salsa-chopping senorita for Frito Lay, Ogilvy Beijing rally a team of Chinese student artists and animators on the ambitious "Coal Story" spot for Greenpeace, Vancouver's Rethink elevates the call for entries to new heights for Langara College, Jared Eberhardt constructs a charming low-tech fantasy for Puma and Paris powerhouses Mikros Image and Wanda take toilet humor to new and naughty extremes for AIDS awareness.
 
Specing for fame and fortune is also alive and thriving on Stash 66: Simon Cassels and Justin Blampied channel Indonesian shadow puppets for Nike "Wayang"; Oliver Navarro Schroeder and Eyeball NYC pay homage to crop circle design for the Motorola C13; and Alberto Mielgo blasts into Stash for the first time with three head-snapping spec spots, one of which, called "Pill", graces the cover.
 
The main program of Stash 66 ends with three extraordinary short films: Maxime Bruneel's psychotropic stream of consciousness called Valse Statique & la Theorie du Combo; Mr. Tea's surreal and unsettling mix of film noir and early American cartoons called Storyville; and finally Adrien Merigeau's graphically masterful tale of family tragedy called Old Fangs which was featured at Sundance 2010.

Posted at 11:00AM Mar 03, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[4]

PeachPit Interview with Tom Geismar

Having created iconic logos for Mobil Oil, New York University, Chase Bank, National Geographic, and many more, Tom Geismar is one of the most highly-acclaimed designers in the profession. David Airey, author of Logo Design Love interviews Tom about his design work.

http://www.peachpit.com/

Posted at 02:49PM Mar 02, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[6]

Photoshop Elements - try it out!

Seems to be a party favor - Coincidentally in step with Photoshop's birthday, Adobe is letting you try out Photoshop Elements for freeee for 30 days.  Take the 30 day challenge.  Try it out, and tell me if Photoshop isn't the software you've used the most since learning computer skills.   

Posted at 08:14PM Mar 01, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[4]

Anime Studio 5 - - FOR FREE! (until March 1)

http://anime.smithmicro.com/freeoffer/

Get Anime Studio Debut 5—FREE!
Download Anime Studio Debut 5 today absolutely FREE!

Reg. US $49.99 | Get it FREE*

http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=189277

*IMPORTANT: Hurry! This limited-time offer for a FREE download of Anime Studio Debut 5 expires March 1, 2010.
This FREE offer is limited to 1 unit only per person. Also, the Extended Download Service is OPTIONAL!! Please use the Trash Can icon to remove it from your cart if you do not want it add to your order.

Posted at 07:50PM Feb 27, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[1]

After Effects Preset Preview

If you're selling your presets or even just giving them away, it's nice to build little previews that your end user can put into Adobe Bridge.

Sure it takes up a little bit of room (and we know that there will be 'preset collectors' who have to download ever single preset they can find), but it's worth it for the presets which may have been named with obscure references.

Take a little time, make an FFX Preview and easily scan through the presets that you've amassed.

Posted at 02:20PM Feb 23, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[3]

I love it when the answer is easy

Recently posted to a forum thread:

Were (sic) can I find a page turn or peel effect plugin for after effects?

From GaryReisman:
Comes with CS4
Effects->Distort->CC Page Turn

Posted at 12:00AM Feb 22, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[1]

modo's slick SLIK

Luxology is introducing a new Studio Lighting & Illumination Kit (SLIK) created by Yazan Malkosh, an extensive collection of presets, scenes, items, materials and video tutorials to help customers light computer-generated (CG) creations. Designed specifically for users of modo®, Luxology's modern 3D modeling, painting and rendering application, SLIK provides realistic lighting of scenes that mimics those found in the real world of photography.

"CG artists and designers often spend a fair amount of time refining lighting solutions to bring out the best in their models," said Brad Peebler, president of Luxology. "With SLIK, artists are easily able to bring the realism of a studio shoot into a CG-based production and create amazing 3D renderings that are vivid and believable."

The kit includes an extensive collection of accurately modeled lights, tripods, booms, cameras, reflectors and platform backdrops, all of which have been modeled to a high level of detail to bring studio-quality production values to customers' scenes. The kit also includes pre-built lighting set-ups that support small-scale, medium-scale, large-scale and portrait studio photography.

"The staging and lighting of a subject can be time-consuming and frustrating without the proper tools, but SLIK allows me to stage and light a scene quickly and painlessly," said freelance illustrator Warner McGee. "Making small or even large adjustments to the scene is simple and straightforward with these precise and flexible tools."

http://www.luxology.com/store/SLIK/

Posted at 04:00PM Feb 10, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[1]

stash #64

Stash brings it again... #64 is out!  Get out there and get it...

Posted at 12:00AM Jan 15, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[4]

Stash: Where to look for others' work and work for you

Stash:  Where to look for others' work and work for you

STASH MEDIA has started to allow employers to list their available jobs for free.  If you're a subscriber to the DVD catalog of videos, there may not be a reason to go back to the site often.

Well, if you're a freelancer, or just looking for the new position, you'll want to check it out again.

http://www.stashmedia.tv/

Posted at 01:47PM Jan 08, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[10]

Eye Candy 6 : 1500 instant photoshop tricks

Eye Candy 6 : 1500 instant photoshop tricks ready to go as presets.  But you can always get into even more with a couple of simple value modifications

Fresh out of the oven!

Eye Candy® 6 is piping hot and ready for you to dig into. We will mention a few of the highlights here, but the really tasty stuff is on our Web site. There you?ll find entertaining videos, over 100 pretty example images, and a ?what?s new? page. You can even try Eye Candy free for 30 days.

Posted at 11:46PM Jan 04, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[34]

STASH DVD: BEST of 2009

Give your favorite people Stash this holiday (while you save cash). (Hey - I'm easy to buy for too)

Throughout December you can grab huge discounts on STASH COLLECTIONS including a special pre-release rate on BEST OF 2009.
PLUS - BACK ISSUES are only $10 when you order 3 or more.
Check all these killer deals, then choose the best ones for you and your gift list.

Posted at 01:00PM Jan 01, 2010 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[24]

Red Giant Software Sale

Many people ask me to let them know when would be a good time to buy Particular or other Red Giant Software plugins - and I usually say "around convention time" - - but not this time!  40% off!

FROM RGS: We want to show our appreciation to all our dedicated fans with a Secret Sale. We are offering 40% off all products. This includes already-discounted bundles and suites such as Trapcode Suite or Magic Bullet Suite, as well as the brand new Red Giant Holomatrix.
 
The sale runs through Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 at 11:59 PM PST (California). To find out when the sale ends in your time zone, visit the World Clock site.

This sale is ONE DAY ONLY. Enter Coupon Code secretsale40 during checkout to redeem your discount on the page titled Review and Submit Your Order. (Note: The coupon code field appears after you have entered your credit card information and hit Continue.)

http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/featured-news/secret-sale/
 

Posted at 12:00AM Dec 08, 2009 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[34]

DigiEffects : Another Freeform Tutorial : Part 2

FreeForm AE Metal Man: Part 2 of 3 Tutorial

Posted at 12:00AM Nov 17, 2009 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[29]

GenArts Sale -

Wednesday November 18th 2009
GenArts Sapphire Entire Package $999 ($700 Savings)

GenArts, Inc. is a premier provider of visual special effects software for the film and video industry.

Sapphire Plug-ins extend the capabilities of editing and effects workstations by providing digital artists with a collection of state-of-the-art image processing and synthesis effects. Free Trial.

http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?toolfarm+NedESV+gesaenpaall4.html

GenArts Sapphire Entire Package v2

Posted at 10:15PM Nov 16, 2009 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[30]

Bay Bridge Facelift : modo style

A massive project is currently underway to replace the eastern portion of the 73-year-old Bay Bridge. But architect and Luxology® LLC modo® user Ronald Rael sees the bridge as a treasure, envisioning it as a public space with parks, houses and sporting facilities.

Posted at 09:37AM Nov 03, 2009 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[40]

Larry Jordan's PowerUp Tools for down economy

Red Giant Software has teamed up with SmartSound Software to sponsor Larry Jordan's Final Cut Pro Seminars called PowerUp Tools for a Down Economy.

Working smarter with tools that work harder is a way to stay ahead of the competition. This full-day seminar with Larry Jordan will show you how. Plus, there will be plenty of giveaways, including two copies of Magic Bullet Quick Looks courtesy of Red Giant Software.

Posted at 12:00AM Oct 27, 2009 by ko maruyama in General  |  Comments[39]